1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention relates to garments and more particularly to a garment that is designed primarily to minimize static electricity generated in a controlled environment such as a clean room.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that electrons repel each other. If enough electrons are present on a given object, the expulsion force may be so great that an escape path is created which is in the form of an arc. An electrostatic discharge, the arc, is basically a sudden and violent redistribution of electrons between two different bodies. On a human body, the electrostatic charge positions itself on the outside skin of the human body.
In the electronics industry, charged human bodies are the killer of components. Electronic components are becoming ever so more sensitive to static electricity. A human walking across the room would likely pick up hundred's of volts of static electricity. This would be a tremendously high voltage when dealing with present day electronic equipment Present day electronic equipment of more advanced type requires that voltage be less than one volt when building or working on the equipment. If the path of the sudden electrostatic discharge happens to include sensitive electronic devices, destruction or a significant amount of damage is quite common. In the manufacturing of some extremely sensitive computer hard drives, the manufacturers are experiencing up to seventy percent rejection because of damage due to static electricity.
In the past, there has been substantial effort expended to dissipate static electricity from workers. One of the common ways that static electricity is dissipated from a worker is by means of a conductive garment worn by the worker which is electrically connected to the exterior surface of the body of the worker. An electrical conductive grounding wire connects to the garment to electrical ground. Also, it is known for the workers to wear shoes or boots that have electrically conductive soles.
One of the disadvantages of the prior art static electricity dissipation garments is that the garment must be grounded in order for it to be effective. What is common is that the worker disconnects the ground wire to move to a different location, comes back to the first location and forgets to reconnect with the grounding outlet. Then when the worker goes back to work, static electricity flows through the electronic equipment which results in equipment damage.
Another disadvantage of the prior art static electricity dissipation garments is the lack of a positive connection between the garment and the boots. The garment is to be connected to an electrical ground and the boots are for the purpose of dissipating any static electricity in the areas of the worker's feet with this dissipation of static electricity being through the floor on which the worker is positioned. Even if the garment of the worker becomes disconnected from the electrical ground, so long as the garment is connected to the boots, there would be an electrically conductive path for the static electricity.
Another disadvantage of prior art static electricity dissipation garments is that the worker is not able to ascertain if there is an undesirable level of static electricity on the worker's body. In the past, there has been no connection of the garment to a voltmeter with this voltmeter to produce a reading which is to be displayed to the worker informing the worker that there is a potential damaging amount of static electricity on the worker's body.